Fox's House

...It is believed that this belief was popularized by a group of sorcerers known as Izuna Tsukai, which began in the Muromachi period. The spiritual power of foxes was also believed to tell residents about the harvest at the beginning of the year, so in the Tohoku region, they were called "Fox Mansion" or "Osakutate," and in some areas, the rising temperature around the time of the start of farming led to a mirage-like phenomenon that was used to predict harvest. Modern fox worship is largely divided into two branches, the Shinto and Buddhist branches of Kyoto's Fushimi Inari and Aichi's Toyokawa Inari, but there are also independent local centers of Inari worship in other areas, showing traces of religious figures who traveled around preaching about this belief. ...

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Fox House" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…これを広めたのは室町期から始まった飯綱（いづな）使いといわれる呪術者の一派ではないかと思われる。　キツネの霊力はその年の初めに当たって，その豊凶を住民に告げるとも考えられたので，東北地方では〈狐の館（たて）〉とか〈お作立て〉と称して，農耕開始のころ気温が高まって蜃気楼のような現象が見られるのを豊凶占いとした土地もあった。　現代のキツネ信仰は京都伏見稲荷と愛知県豊川稲荷との神仏2系統に大きく分かれるが，そのほか各地に独立の稲荷信仰の地方的中心があり，これを宣布して歩いた宗教者の痕跡を示す。…

※「狐の館」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報